WASHINGTON (CWNews.com)

    The US Supreme Court has ruled that it is an unconstitutional state sponsorship of religion when students lead a public prayer before a football game at public high schools.

    The Court's decision, by a 6-3 majority, was made in a case involving a Texas school, at which student leaders led a prayer over the loudspeaker before contests. Texas Governor George W. Bush, the Republican presidential candidate, had endorsed that policy.

    But Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the Supreme Court, said that the school policy was "invalid on its face" because it "unquestionably has the purpose and creates the perception" that the school-- a government entity-- is promoting Christian prayer.

    The First Amendment to the US Constitution prohibits any federal "establishment" of religion. The same Amendment also prohibits any "restriction" on the practice of faith. The Supreme Court has wrestled with the meaning of those phrases in a series of decisions over the past three decades.

    Chief Justice William Rehnquist-- along with Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas-- dissented from the Court's decision. Rehnquist complained that the majority's opinion "bristles with hostility to all things religious in public life."

For a commentary on this, see this issue's CATHOLIC PewPOINT

We encourage you to check the Catholic World News site at the CWN home page and Church News at Noticias Eclesiales and the Dossiers, features and Daily Dispatches from ZENIT International News Agency CWN, NE and ZENIT are not affiliated with the Daily CATHOLIC, but provide this service via e-mail to the Daily CATHOLIC Monday through Friday.